The Scout Report for Social Sciences - July 25, 2000

July 25, 2000

A Publication of the Internet Scout Project
Computer Sciences Department, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The target audience of the new Scout Report for Social Sciences is faculty, students, staff, and librarians in the social sciences. Each biweekly issue offers a selective collection of Internet resources covering topics in the field that have been chosen by librarians and content specialists in the given area of study.

The Scout Report for Social Sciences is also provided via email once every two weeks. Subscription information is included at the bottom of each issue.

American Indians of the Pacific Northwest -- American Memory Projecthttp://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/wauhtml/aipnhome.html
This Website from the Library of Congress's American Memory Project features a digital collection of "over 2,300 photographs and 7,700 pages of text relating to the American Indians in two cultural areas of the Pacific Northwest -- the Northwest Coast and Plateau." Images load in thumbnail size and can be expanded to full screen. Each image includes information about the photographer, links to other related images in the collection, and notes on the context of the photograph. The source of the image and its current repository are also provided. The entire collection can be searched by key word or browsed by subject, geographic location, and photographer. [DC][Back to Contents]

"Baseline Assessment of Public Housing Desegregation Cases: Cross-site Report" [.exe, self-extracting archive]http://www.huduser.org/publications/pubasst/baseline.html
Released earlier this month, this new report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development presents an assessment of efforts by HUD to desegregate public housing as a voluntary response to suits filed by various groups at eight different urban sites citing discriminatory HUD policies. HUD commissioned the Urban Institute (see the September 9, 1999 Scout Report for Business and Economics) to assess the progress of the department's efforts to desegregate and to make recommendations for future policy. Not surprisingly, the report finds that segregation of low-income Black and White communities remains high and that, while all of the eight sites have implemented at least some elements of the department's new policy, no site has fully implemented all requirements. The report concludes with a discussion of the obstacles to more successful desegregation and how they might be addressed. [DC][Back to Contents]

Edge: Third Culturehttp://www.edge.org/
This stimulating online journal is the main publication of Edge Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mandate is "to promote inquiry into and discussion of intellectual, philosophical, artistic, and literary issues, as well as to work for the intellectual and social achievement of society." To that end, the journal brings together speculative articles on contemporary issues by leading scholars and practitioners in the sciences and humanities as well as interviews with these same luminaries. The latest issue, published last week, includes, among other items, an open letter by Richard Dawkins to Prince Charles criticizing his recent call for science to be tempered with a sense of the spiritual, Freeman Dyson's thoughts on spirituality and physics entitled "Progress in Religion," and a medical doctor's argument that the large number of stock market players on psychoactive drugs like Prozac may be in part responsible for the current long-term economic boom. But the most interesting article is probably V.S. Ramachandran's "Mirror Neurons And Imitation Learning As The Driving Force Behind 'The Great Leap Forward' In Human Evolution," which argues that recent discoveries concerning the frontal lobes of monkeys are likely to lead to an unprecedented unified theory for human psychology. A searchable archive of past issues is available, reaching back to the first biweekly issue in December of 1996. An annual feature of Edge is its "What is the most important unreported story?" giving scientists and thinkers the chance to suggest where they believe the next revolution in knowledge will be coming from. [DC][Back to Contents]

The Journal of Mundane Behavior [.pdf]http://www.mundanebehavior.org/index2.htm
"The Journal of Mundane Behavior, hosted by the Department of Sociology and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at California State University, Fullerton, is a new scholarly journal devoted to the study of the 'unmarked,' i.e., those aspects of our everyday lives that typically go unnoticed by us, both as academics and as everyday individuals." The second issue, June 2000, is now available online and includes articles entitled "Whiteness, White Otherness and Jewish Identity," "Unpacking My Record Collection: The end of the Christal Methodists," and "The Mundane and the Limits of the Human: Thoughts on Hamlet, Roswell NM, and The Jerry Springer Show," among others. Articles may be read online in HTML format or downloaded in .pdf. [DC][Back to Contents]

Folk Psychology vs. Mental Simulation: How Minds Understand Minds [.pdf]http://www.umsl.edu/~philo/Mind_Seminar/New%20Pages/papers.html
This Website "provides access to work that was discussed at, inspired by, or is otherwise relevant to the seminar 'Folk Psychology vs. Mental Simulation: How Minds Understand Minds,' a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar for College Teachers held at the University of Missouri-St. Louis" last July. Folk Psychology and Mental Simulation are two competing theories designed to explain how "people understand, predict, and explain one another's actions, thoughts, and motivations"; both have implications for the understanding and possible treatment of Autism among other conditions. The site currently features fifteen articles and papers -- some with abstracts -- with another ten to be added soon. Titles include "Autism and the 'Theory of Mind' Debate," "Developing Commonsense Psychology: Experimental Data and Philosophical Data," and "A Cognitive Theory of Pretense." Articles are available in .pdf or HTML formats. [DC][Back to Contents]

Pharaohs of the Sun: Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Tutankhamen [QuickTime]http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/pharaohs_exhib/amarna/ex_hi_ind.html
This new online exhibit coincides with the installation of over 250 objects from the time of the Pharaohs which opened at the Art Institute of Chicago last week. The Website gives visitors the chance to view over 100 artifacts from the exhibit, complete with descriptions of the objects and their cultural contexts. Since many of the objects are three-dimensional, a QuickTime application lets users rotate the object 240 degrees in either direction and zoom in on details. Other sections of the site provide image-supplemented commentary on religion, art, culture, and daily life in the time of Akhenaten as well as descriptions of the excavations that brought the artifacts to the museum and an interactive explanation of how archaeologists piece their finds together. A section of educational materials for teachers is also included. [DC][Back to Contents]

Gateway to Art Historyhttp://www.harbrace.com/art/gardner/
Designed as an online supplement to the text book Gardner's Art Through the Ages, this gateway offers extensive links to Websites, images, and documents relating to art in the Ancient world; the Middle Ages; the Renaissance, the Baroque, and the Rococo; the Modern and Postmodern world; and the world beyond Europe. All forms of the plastic arts are covered including prints and photography. The links are listed in a subject outline form with brief but helpful annotations, and the designer has also gone an extra step by often breaking down sites into their significant subsections or images, allowing users to gain a better idea of what's on a Website and link to its individual sections directly. Gateway to Art History is maintained by Chris Witcombe, Professor of Art History at Sweet Briar College, with funding from Harcourt College Publishers. [DC][Back to Contents]

Poster Girls of World War IIhttp://www.geocities.com/queenknuckles/postergirls.htm
This apparently anonymous Website places online over 60 World War II posters featuring women. Most of these are American, but some British and even German posters are included as well. The images are accessed first in thumbnail sketch from a sidebar and can be expanded to a full window size with a click. While no accompanying commentary is provided, the images themselves are fertile ground for a consideration of the figuration of women, their role in the war effort, and the impact of their contributions to gender role issues in post-war America. Just as an example: one poster for war bonds shows a woman with her children clustered around her, babe in arms, and the bold overhead caption: "I GAVE A MAN!" This site serves as a useful supplement to the larger World War II poster collection held at the Website of the Northwestern University Library (see the March 13, 1998 Scout Report for details). Caveat: we suggest turning down your audio when you visit this site or quickly clicking through the introductory page to avoid the gratuitous, soap opera-like "theme" music. [DC][Back to Contents]

The Museum of the City of San Franciscohttp://www.sfmuseum.org/
By no means a new site, but frequently updated, this is one to bookmark if you have any interest in the history of San Francisco. Their online exhibits feature articles, images, and a cornucopia of archival materials relating to the 1849 California gold rush, the great earthquake and fire of 1906, the 1989 earthquake, the construction of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, San Francisco World War II events, San Francisco rock music of the mid-to-late 1960s, and much more. A general subject index to all of the online holdings is offered as well as a chronological and biographical listing of these materials. [DC][Back to Contents]

The American Experience: Coney Island -- PBShttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/coney/index.html
Long before Lawrence Ferlinghetti entitled his famous book of Beat poems A Coney Island of the Mind, the amusement park located on "a tiny spit of land at the foot of Brooklyn, NY" had come to represent a quintessential American desire for mechanized, manic fun. This companion site to the PBS airing this week of the American Experience provides a history of the amusement park, a substantial essay on the history of roller coasters, an enhanced transcript of the broadcast (available July 26), a gallery of Coney Island images, historical film clips of the park in action, a teacher's guide (which was not yet available when we visited), and an essay comparing Coney Island to the Internet. Watch out for that first hyperlink! [DC][Back to Contents]

Getting the Picture: The Art of the Illustrated Letter -- Smithsonian Archives of American Arthttp://artarchives.si.edu/exhibits/illusltr/illusltr.htm
This simultaneously literary and visual site from the Smithsonian gives the visitor the chance to glimpse the amalgams of text and illustration generated in the genre of the personal letter by 40 prominent artists of the last two centuries. Included here are full-color, facsimile reproductions of letters by artists such as Alexander Calder, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, Jim Nutt, Waldo Pierce, Moses Soyer, J. Kathleen White, and Andrew Wyeth. The letters can be accessed by an alphabetical or chronological listing of the artists or the recipients. The ways in which artists approach words as graphic entities and creatively interpose illustrations amidst text are in abundant evidence here. Indeed, Calder's colorful, angular map drawn to give a friend the route to his house -- reminiscent of his mobiles -- is alone worth the visit. [DC][Back to Contents]

Resources for the Study of World Civilizationhttp://www.wsu.edu/~wldciv/#general
Designed by professor Paul Brians of Washington State University for his general education world history courses, this Website offers visitors two useful resources. The first consists of online selections of the three-volume work Reading about the World: A Reader for the Study of World Civilizations, which includes readings from Ancient Mesopotamia through contemporary civilization. The entire table of contents of the work is listed, but users may only access linked portions, which are substantial but by no means complete. The second resource available here for the general user consists of learning modules of which there are currently three: What is Culture?, The Long Foreground - Human Prehistory, and the Agricultural Revolution. These well constructed modules consist of historical text by Brians, substantial selections from noted scholars on the module's topic, and in the case of What is Culture?, "galleries of student hypertext." These last offer text and image presentations by students in Brians's courses on such topics as religion and culture and the role of learned behaviors. The modules and the aforementioned reading selections can easily be used in isolation as Web-based materials for teachers in other courses, and the site as a whole serves as an effective model of supplemental online instruction. [DC][Back to Contents]

The Symphony: An Interactive Guide [RealAudio]http://library.thinkquest.org/22673/index.html
This Website from Sony Audio provides biographical and musical information on the great symphonic composers of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Users can browse, alphabetically or by country, biographical sketches of composers with links to substantial audio selections of their most famous works. Each audio selection is accompanied by a "listener's guide" that offers a detailed musical analysis of the piece, particularly suitable for high school musicians tackling the classic works of the canon. Visitors can also examine a timeline that gives an overview of the history of classical music generally and the symphony in particular, follow a "crash course" in symphonic forms, study a complete guide to the orchestra, take quizzes or join the site's discussion board, and consult an annotated list of classical music Websites. RealAudio is required to listen to the musical selections, which were performed by The Queensland Youth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Curro. [DC][Back to Contents]

New Search Area for the NCES WebSitehttp://nces.ed.gov/search/search.html
Unveiled on July 6, this new area simplifies searches at the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) Website. The page features a site-wide keyword search engine and four targeted search tools. The first of these, the Electronic Catalog, helps users find NCES publications and data products, with several search methods, and related information, including a listing of the most popular NCES reports. The Global Education Locator features four keyword search engines: On-Line, National Public School/ District Locator, Public Library Locator, and Private School Locator. The third tool, NCES Fast Facts, offers a collection of in-depth answers to selected education questions, browseable by a subject list, as well a daily "Did You Know" fact and searchable archives of the "Inside the Stats" feature, both of which link to the source documentation. Finally, the NCES Staff Directory allows users to "locate all NCES staff members alphabetically or select one of several options to search staff via their survey/ program area, topic of expertise, or service area." [MD][Back to Contents]

German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP): A Representative Longitudinal Study of Private Households in the Federal Republic of Germany [SPSS, SAS, TDA, STATA, and ASCII]http://www.diw.de/english/sop/index.html
The German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) is a wide-ranging representative longitudinal study of private households in Germany. The same private households, persons and families have been surveyed annually since 1984. In June of 1990, "the survey was extended to include the territory of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR)." Some 5,900 households participated in the first survey in 1984, and 4,285 households were included in the latest wave in 1998, giving the survey a high degree of stability. Topics in the survey study include household composition, occupational and family biographies, employment and professional mobility, earnings, health, and personal satisfaction. Separate topical modules also cover such issues as social security, education, time allocation, and family and social services. According to its creators, "the GSOEP data give researchers the opportunity to observe and to analyze political and social transformations." In addition, the site's search engine features extensive search capabilities that provide detailed information on the variables in the GSOEP dataset. Users can determine statistical parameters and then output frequencies information, item correspondence, and even generate SPSS, SAS, TDA (6.1), and Stata (4.0) command files. [DC][Back to Contents]

"Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, United States, 1999" -- Centers for Disease Control [.pdf]ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Publications/mmwr/ss/ss4905.pdf
This annual report from the Centers for Disease Control "monitors six categories of priority health-risk behaviors among youth and young adults -- behaviors that contribute to unintentional and intentional injuries; tobacco use; alcohol and other drug use; sexual behaviors that contribute to unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) (including human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] infection); unhealthy dietary behaviors; and physical inactivity." Statistical tables in this report provide extensive data on the four leading causes of death for persons aged 10-24, accounting for 75 percent of all mortalities for this group: motor-vehicle accidents, other intentional injuries, homicide, and suicide. [DC][Back to Contents]

Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Statisticshttp://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/statistics/stats-home.htm
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice keeps an up-to-date collection on the Web of statistics on criminals and incarceration in the lone star state. Included here are data on death row inmates, probation, prisons, financial and health services, substance abuse felony punishment, and risk management in the prison population. Users may be particularly interested in the extensive data on death row, which include profiles of current and executed inmates, scheduled executions, gender and racial statistics for death row offenders, execution statistics, and for those interested in a condemned person's final hours, the contents of last meal requests. [DC][Back to Contents]

(For links to additional current awareness on tables of contents, abstracts, preprints, new books, data, conferences, etc., visit the The Scout Report for Social Sciences Current Awareness Metapage: http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/socsci/metapage/).

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Presshttp://www.people-press.org/index.htm
"An independent opinion research group that studies public attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues," the Pew Research Center posts online reports and public opinion data on public policy issues. Current reports deal with the threat of another dip in voter turnout in the November election, the audience bite the Internet is taking from broadcast news, gender gap issues for the two major presidential candidates, and an opinion on a McCain vice-president spot on the Bush ticket. The data archive includes statistics on polling data concerning such issues as Medicare reform, contemporary motherhood, the public's response to Kosovo, voter interest in the Presidential campaign, America's China policy, the values of the US news media, and more. An archive of past reports is also available. The center is sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts. [DC][Back to Contents]

ISA Research Committee on the Sociology of Migration (RC31)
International Migration in Latin America Enters a New Millennium
November 2-4, 2000
Buenos Aires, Argentinahttp://www.isn.ethz.ch/conferences/

Yahoo! News (1) and CNN.com (2) have posted stories announcing the collapse of the talks and detailing the cause and the reactions of the principal players. The Website of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) (3) features information about the peace process culled from UN, US State Department, and other international sources as well as key peace process documents and updates on the current status of West Bank settlements. The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs has posted a Webpage (4) on their site offering links to press statements, speeches, and documents relating to the current negotiations. (Note: both the PNA and Israeli Ministry site offer information only up to the beginning of the current talks.) An excellent Website from Megastories.com (5) gives readers much needed background on the history of the conflict, the major actors -- both in and out of the Middle East, and the on-the-ground reality in the disputed sections of East Jerusalem. With their usual thoroughness, the BBC offers an "in depth" Website (6) on the negotiations which provides up-to-date new stories, background history on the region and the long quest for peace, analysis, profiles of the major figures and their motivations, maps, timelines, and more. ArabicNews.com (7) posts the complete text of the 1998 Wye River Memorandum, designed to facilitate the implementation of the 1995 agreement on the disposition of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Negotiations: Realizing the Opportunity (8) gives a history of the 1978 Camp David negotiations hosted by President Carter. Included here are the text of the Camp David Accord and excerpts from Carter's Journal kept during the negotiations which illustrate the atmosphere of rancor with which the ultimately successful talks began. [DC][Back to Contents]

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Copyright Susan Calcari and the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents, 1994-2000. The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/), located in the Computer Sciences Department of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, provides information about the Internet to the U.S. research and education community under a grant from the National Science Foundation, number NCR-9712163. The Government has certain rights in this material. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of the entire Scout Report provided this paragraph, including the copyright notice, are preserved on all copies.

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